1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ramps. More particularly, the present invention relates to foldable ramps for use in loading equipment onto raised surfaces.
2. Description of the Related Art
Small equipment, such as all terrain vehicles, riding lawn mowers, and the like sometimes must be transported from place to place for usage. Small equipment like this may be physically lifted by the mover into the bed of a pickup truck, trailer, van, or whatever type of vehicle is moving the equipment, but this could result in injury to the mover from the strain of the lift. In addition, if the equipment is very heavy or cumbersome, more than one person may be required to physically lift equipment into the vehicle. Obviously, this is an inconvenience when there is only one person available. Therefore, ramps are sometimes used to load small equipment into the cargo area of vehicles.
One advantage of loading equipment using a ramp is that one person is able to load the equipment, when it might ordinarily take more than one person. However, if the ramp is too heavy or cumbersome for one person to handle, that advantage is cancelled out. On the other hand, if the ramp is made from lightweight material according to conventional ramp designs, it may be too weak to sustain the weight of the equipment being loaded. In addition, the ramp must store easily, for instance, in the bed of a pickup truck, for convenient usage. Therefore, there is a need for a lightweight, strong ramp which is easily storable.
The prior art fails to adequately solve these and other problems and needs. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,284 issued to New, Jr. describes a ramp for loading all terrain vehicles into the bed of a pickup truck. However, the mechanical design of the ramp does not lend itself to both strength and lightness.
In addition, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,352,440 to Wilson, 3,713,553 to Curtis et al., 4,735,454 to Bernard, and 4,127,201 to Baumann all describe various kinds of ramps. In the inventor's opinion, these too fail to satisfy the need for a ramp which is strong, lightweight, easily operable, and conveniently storable.